The American Association Of Retired Persons (aarp) Essay Example For Students

The American Association Of Retired Persons (aarp) Essay The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)Founded in 1958 by Dr. Ethel Percy, the American Association of RetiredPersons (AARP) has been dedicated to addressing the needs and interests of olderAmericans. Percy felt that older Americans could attain a sense ofsatisfaction and fulfillment by remaining physically and intellectually activein society, thus came about his idea to form the AARP. The AARP is a nonprofit,nonpartisan, membership organization open to anyone, working or retired, overthe age of 50. Based in Wash-ington, D.C., the AARP pursues its goals throughservice, advocacy, and education. The AARPs ultimate goal is to help olderAmericans achieve lives of independence, dignity, and purpose. The AARP isspread nation wide through local chapters and is run mainly by volunteer boardmembers at the local and national levels. The 33 million members of the AARP can expect many benefits as well assupport from the AARP. The wide range of services span anywhere from movietickets to grants for re-search. The AARP also has many publications in theform of audio and publications. The most famous of these publications is thebimonthly Modern Maturity which targets all readers inter-ested in AARP issues. The issues and goals the AARP advocates span a great deal throughout thepolitical, economic, and social arena. While diverse in its areas of interest,the AARP mainly concentrates on social issues. Being a nonpartisan organization,the AARP does not nationally endorse or contribute any money to the campaignsof any candidate running for national positions including presidency. Politicsin the AARP is basically left to the individual to decide whom he/she willsupport. The only participation the AARP takes is through the AARP/VOTE program. The goals of the AARP/VOTE program are to educate AARP members and the generalpublic about important economic, health and consumer issues, and about thepositions taken by candidates for public office on these issues. They alsoinform candidates and elected officials of AARPs positions on key policy issuesand help elected officials be more responsive to the needs of their districtsor states by promoting effective communication with their constituents. AARP/VOTE is successful because of its effective methods used to bring thecandidate and constituent closer together. They use techniques such ascandidate forums where the candidates visit local chapters, questionnaires thatcandidates fill out, and voter registration drives. Besides the AARP/Voteprogram, the AARP gets through political pressure from the grass roots level bya well structured system of events. This system of events can be summarized infour basic steps. The first being Obtaining Member Input. This step involvesthe local level members providing input about legislative issues of concern inany area. The input is provided in form of thousands of letters of concernwhich is reviewed by the National Legislative Council of the AARP. If enoughsupport for an issue is found to be present among the majority of the membersthen it goes on to the next step which is the Decision Making of the NationalLegislative Council and Board of Directors. At this level, the National Counciland Boar d of directors decide which issues to support and include these newissues into the AARPs federal and state policy agenda for the year. TheCouncil and Board interact with Congressional and government leaders. Leadersread over and respond to the AARPs policy and debate over issues of concern. Once revisions are made to the policy agenda, a final draft is made and isdistributed in many forms to anyone interested. The third step, Disseminatingand Implementing Legislative Policy, includes lobbying in Washington D.C. andtestifying regularly on Capitol Hill about the AARPs federal and state policyfor that year. While action is being taken in Washington, the AARP is alsoeducating members on the new policy. The final step would be Ongoing PolicyAnalysis. At this level the AARP reviews and analyses federal response policiesto see if they are consistent with AARP policy. Recommendations are logged intoa working draft of the upcoming years policy book and the process ofinteracting with the federal government starts all over again. Harvey Norman Case Study EssayThey feel that individuals should be able to work as long as they are willingand able to work. Letting older persons work longer would also benefit SocialSecurity and private pensions by increasing the amount of contributions withmore people working and by delaying payments. Finally, the AARP stands firmlyagainst age-related driver testing. They say it is discriminatory and isnt thesolution to the elderlys driving problems. The solution the AARP proposes iseducation. They would like to educate the elderly more about driving as well ashaving tougher tests when renewing drivers licenses. Another suggestion is tohave more conspicuous and highly visible road signs. These ideas all together,says the AARP, would make roadways safer for all drivers. Thus, through thissmall sample of their large interest for social issues, one can get a betteridea how the AARP stands. Being a member of the AARP has its many personal benefits as well ashaving the satisfaction that as an older person, one is still involved insociety at the political, economic, and social levels. The AARP has been aroundfor 38 years strong, being very effective and providing a solid voice for olderAmericans, and its success so far will assure its survival into the 21stcentury becoming one of the most well rounded organizations.